Wednesday, 15 May 2019

This is my first photo gallery about a Coast Guard patrol vessel. In this post, you will enjoy some good photos I took some days ago when I visited the HCG080 (ΛΣ 080) Agios Efstratios, the latest of the three 58-meter Sa'ar class offshore patrol vessels (Περιπολικό Ανοικτής Θαλάσσης, ΠΑΘ) that serve with the Hellenic Coast Guard (Λιμενικό Σώμα - Ελληνική Ακτοφυλακή). These patrol vessels are the the most heavily armed boats currently in the Hellenic Coast Guard inventory. The
ships are based on the former Sa'ar 4 fast attack missile craft of the Israeli
Navy. The contract for the procurement of the ships was
signed on November 11, 2002. This was the first Israeli naval sale to a European Union country. The
first two ships, Fournoi and Ro, were built in Israel by the Israel
Shipyards Ltd and they were delivered in December 2003 and March 2004,
respectively. The third vessel, Agios Efstratios, was built in Greece by the Hellenic Shipyards S.A and was delivered in June of 2004. I would really like to thank the crew for the excellent tour aboard this very well-maintained ship and of the major vessels of Greece's Coast Guard. Enjoy the photos!

The mast of the vessel with two Sperry Marine navigation radars and one TopLite electro-optical sensor. The old TopLite model will be replaced this year by a variant of the very advanced TDR-10 sensor produced by the Greek company Miltech Hellas. More here. Details of the new sensor will follow soon!

View of the boat from atop the bridge

View of the bow deck from atop the bridge

The 30mm gun turret that equips the boat

Another boat of the class

The NVTS electro-optical sensor has been installed on four HCG patrol vessels
of the HCG, including Arkoi, from 2015, to assist the operations.